()3*) Grasses and Leguminous Crops in New York 



Common Millet 



This variety is the best known, and perhaps the most widely 

 grown, of any of the foxtail millets. It is fine-stemmed and leafy 

 with a close, compact head tapering slightly towards the iii)per 

 end, the lower part of the head usnally being looser than the 

 middle and upper part. (Fig. 640.) The individual seed is yellow 

 to straw-color, oval to elliptical in outline, and flattened on one 

 side. Common millet is characterized by a short season of growth, 

 being one of the earliest of the foxtail millets. Tests in the 

 central states show that under average conditions it can be cut 

 69 days after the date when sown, and in many cases only 50 days 

 are required for it tO' mature sufficiently for hay. Under favorable 

 conditions it produces from one to two tons of hay per acre, and 

 this hay is of first-class quality on account of the slender stem 

 and abundant leaves. 



California mid Gold-mine Millets 

 The California and Gold-mine millets are leafy, heavy-yielding 

 varieties that are closely related to common millet. Neither of 

 these varieties is very well known, but the Gold-mine especially 

 deserves a wider utilization and should be planted by farmers 

 in preference to common millet in sections where its seed is 

 available. 



Oerman Millet 



Several writers have confused this varietv with the Huni3i:arian 

 millet, which came to the United States under the technical name 

 of Fanicum germanicum and was locally grown for several years 

 as " Geraian millet." German millet, on the other hand, was 

 known in early days as " Bengal grass," but just how this name 

 originated cannot be determined. German millet first became 

 important in the central valley of Tennessee, and this locality has 

 continued to be the center of its distribution, manv farmers in 

 the vicinity of Franklin, Tenn., making a specialty of the pro- 

 duction of German millet seed. This variety has almost entirely 

 supplanted other foxtail millets in the southern states, and besides 

 is perhaps the principal millet in the central states, since it is 

 handled by more seedsmen than any other variety. In many places 

 where it is grown, the season is not long enough to mature a seed 



